The Complete #ProjectBAAW

#ProjectBAAW has landed and it looks even better than we imagined!

Last Wednesday was the final day of building #ProjectBAAW and when it came to it, Phil really didn’t want to hand it over to us!

It is still early days when it comes to marketing the bike and the brands used, but now is a good time to reflect on the ethos of the build, have we maintained what we set out to do and how has it been perceived so far?

A reminder of the aims of the project:

To produce a road bike that will compete with the best road bike manufacturers.

To look visually stunning, showcasing good design and engineering in the build quality and finish.

To be affordable.

Demonstrating that the UK is at the forefront of the majority of technologies

Showcasing the best of and potential of the British cycling industry

First Impressions: The ride

Being winter, I haven’t clocked too many miles up on #ProjectBAAW as of yet, mainly because I don’t want to damage the paint work!

But upon my first spin, the bike feels fast. The wheels really push you along once you get moving and also feel super stiff when climbing. The frame is slightly heavier then your average carbon frame due to it being aluminium, and you can feel this when climbing, but it feels stiff when sprinting and handles beautifully when descending.

More in depth reviews will be coming within the next few weeks and months.

How does it look?

I think it would be impossible for anyone to say it is not a head turner! The finish of the build is impeccable. The colour scheme, if I do say so myself, is on point. The details on the forks, rear stays and the coloured matched stem and seat post really set this bike off.

The Fabric saddle is an elegant piece of design in itself and combined with the Parcours carbon wheelset, gives this bike a really fast look.

So how much does it cost?

In the initial talks with Aprire, the idea of the bike was to create a showcase for the brand. We both agreed that lower range components would not have helped us in achieving this. And so we went on the hunt for more UK Brands that could help us achieve a great looking bike at a reasonable cost.

This is thankfully where Parcours and Fabric came in and sat perfectly with the ethos of the build.

Parcours set out to create ‘accessible aero,’ meaning a quality set of carbon wheels that are not going to break the bank.

The Passista wheelset retail at £750, which I know still isn’t cheap, but in terms of the engineering and quality of the wheelset, they are probably the best value for money wheels on the market.

Fabric offer a large range of saddles, from the pinnacle of their saddle designs, The ALM retailing at £224.99, which, although beautiful, unfortunately doesn’t tick the affordable bracket. So, we opted for the Scoop, still elegant in design but retailing at £44.99, which is a much more affordable option.

Fabric also provided silicone bar tape, which retails at £29.99, again, not the cheapest of bar tapes, but when we realised it almost perfectly matched the bikes blue colour scheme, we just had to indulge.

And so a list of the components used with prices:

Aprire Inverno Frame and Carbon forks: £275

Parcours Passista Wheelset: £750

Fabric Saddle and tape: £74.98

Shimano Ultegra groupset: £499.99

Shimano 105 carbon pedals: £58.97

S-Works Turbo Tyres +Innertubes: £60

Handle Bars, Stem, Seatpost and Headset: £156.96

Paint work: £500

Total cost: £2,375

For an Aluminium framed bike, this is not particularly cheap, but in the terms of, a “fully bespoke build” with mid-high range component finish, this is an affordable bike, and one that could probably not be matched by many other brands that offer bespoke services.

Does it showcase UK Brands?

Yes.

80% of this build is designed and engineered here in the UK. Due to the cost of manufacture, all the brands used manufacture their products outside of Europe, but this could soon change!

Aprire Bicycles have a vision of manufacturing all their carbon frames here in the UK within the next few years – this was recently expressed in a feature with Road.CC

And since introducing Parcours to Aprire, there has been talk of Parcours also producing some components for the wheels here too!

This is what the Project is all about. It does not only showcase and express some of the brands here in the UK, but has also brought these Brands together which is really exciting for the industry.

So Far…

#ProjectBAAW has been a success! We are still in the early stages of really pushing the bike in terms of marketing exposure but the bike has been really well received so far.

We have achieved all the targets that we set out to with the build. It looks great, it rides and great and most importantly, it really shows what is on our doorstep here in the UK.

I cannot wait to get this out on the road and eat up the miles.

We would like to say a massive thank you for all the sponsors involved in the build.

Phil, Ben and the rest of the guys at Aprire have done a stunning job on the spraying and building the bike up. Thanks to Parcours for providing a set of the their Passista wheelset with custom white decals that work with the rest of the bike beautifully.

And finally to Fabric CC, it must have been fate for those guys to provide the perfectly matching bar tape and the awesome looking Pro Scoop Saddle.

We can’t wait to put the bike and all its components to the test over the next few months, so watch this space